Bed Bugs in Schools (Ultimate Removing Guide)

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Bed bugs are small insects that wait sneakily for you to enter the bed so they can start having their lunch. Scientifically speaking, they feed on blood, which causes little itchy spots on the skin, similar to those of a mosquito bite.

While bed bugs aren’t transmitters of diseases, they can cause health issues like minor skin irritations, sleeplessness, and anxiety, especially among children. They prevail in schools because they move through clothes, backpacks, books, and luggage. So if you want to know how to deal with the appearance of bed bugs in schools, you’ve come to the right place. Read on to find out!

Guide to Dealing With Bed Bugs in Schools

Bed Bug Prevention

Luckily, you can try and prevent bed bug presence before it’s too late. First of all, you should avoid storing students’ personal possessions like backpacks and clothes in one place together. If one student’s belongings have bed bugs in them, they’ll easily spread to the other items. Consequently, it’d be best if each student had their own locker.

Second of all, try to avoid cluttering in classrooms and clean the cardboards regularly. This will ensure that you see any bed bug infestations before they get too bad. Also, it’s better for everyone’s health to keep the place hygienic.

Finally, make sure to seal all cracks and fissures in the walls because they’re perfect hiding places for bed bugs. Although those steps won’t completely prevent the insects’ appearance, they’ll reduce the chance by a mile.

Bed Bug Identification

If you suspect that there are bed bugs in your school, you have to make sure before wreaking havoc because they can easily be mistaken for other insects. To do so, don’t immediately kill a bed bug when you spot it. Instead, contain it in a clear jar and get an expert’s opinion on its ID.

Next, get a pest management professional to inspect the place for you. They’ll check the surrounding classrooms and areas for more insects. In addition, they’ll make a full inspection of the affected classroom where you found the bed bug, which will be helpful if the area contains desks and cupboards that can’t be easily investigated.

These steps will help you realize if there’s a whole infestation or just one-bed bug hanging around. As a result, you’ll know to deal with the issue in a healthy manner.

Bed Bug Management

Once you’ve identified the bed bug, it’s time to manage the problem efficiently. Managing a bed bug infestation in a school requires an organized head to go through the steps without spreading panic around. You should know that a mere sighting of a bed bug doesn’t necessarily mean there’s an infestation. And, even if there’s an infestation, it can be controlled through a set of steps.

Develop a Plan

When you see signs of bed bugs, the first thing you should do is to develop a solid action plan in advance. It should consist of the procedures that everyone will follow to ensure prompt responses to the detection of bed bugs. Then, when people follow the plan efficiently and monitor the problem, controlling it will be a smooth process.

Kindly note that all teachers and staff members should be aware of the detailed plan. This ensures that they’ll know exactly what to do to avoid any extra risk.

Use Control Tactics

There are a few steps that you should do once you detect bed bugs in your school. Firstly, you should remove bed bugs from crevices and fissures in walls, furniture, and floors using a vacuum. This will ensure that there aren’t any more sneaky insects hiding inside.

Secondly, put any items that’d been in contact with the bed bugs in the dryer. The high heat they’ll be subjected to inside will kill them effectively. Moreover, make sure to throw any clothing or bedding inside to avoid leaving any bed bugs behind.

Finally, avoid using chemical pesticides to deal with bed bugs because they aren’t the most healthy option out there when children are involved. Instead, try using steam, trapping methods, and sanitation afterward. If you desperately have to use pesticides in the infested site, you should make sure a licensed applicator deals with them to avoid extra problems.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Bed Bugs Cause Health Issues?

Bed bugs don’t transmit disease. However, they cause a few health issues that aren’t serious but may cause great disturbance. In general, bed bug bites cause itching and scratching, which can cause a secondary skin infection.

Moreover, if the affected person has sensitive skin, they may suffer from moderate allergic reactions. These usually require medical attention to go away. Although rare, bed bugs may also cause severe allergic reactions.

How Easy Is It to Bring Bed Bugs Home?

Since they don’t fly, the prevalence of bed bugs anywhere isn’t that easy. They have to crawl through personal items like student belongings, purses, and backpacks to get into someone’s house. They can also enter the home through furniture, walls, and floors.

Are You Gross if You Have Bed Bugs?

Contrary to popular belief, the presence of bed bugs has nothing to do with hygiene. They don’t normally live in filthy places where hygiene isn’t a concern. Instead, they can be found in the neatest of places. So you don’t have to worry about your cleaning protocols if you face a bed bug problem.

Do a Few Bed Bugs Mean You Have an Infestation?

While detecting some bed bugs doesn’t necessarily mean you have an infested home, it definitely is a concern that requires your attention. This is mainly because you may be able to prevent an infestation before it happens. Consequently, you’ll save yourself effort and money.

To Wrap Up

If you’ve seen actual bed bug infestations before, you probably know they’re a bane to deal with, especially when it comes to school. Schools are usually full of personal belongings and running students, which are the perfect ingredients for an infestation. So if you identify bed bugs in your school, you should immediately take action.

In addition, you can try and prevent the occurrence of bed bugs by organizing students’ belongings and prevent storing them in close contact. It would help if you also sealed crevices and cracks in walls because bed bugs hide there. Now that you have more information about the topic, you can deal with it in the right way!

Bed Bugs in Schools